São Paulo – The second edition of cultural event O Giramundo will feature Arab music, including a conversation and a performance by the Yaqin Ensemble (pictured) featuring musician Yousef Saif of Palestine (pictured, 1st, R to L), at venue Casa de Francisca in São Paulo, at 9:30pm this Thursday (13). The venue opens at 8pm and the admission price is BRL 35.
The first edition of the event organized by producer Edgard Piccoli and journalist Bento Araújo focused on the rhythms of the Congo, with a concert by the band Os Escolhidos and musician Yannick Delass. “The idea behind O Giramundo is to enable an experience of foreign tradition, a unique experience, a dive into foreign art,” Piccoli told ANBA. The event’s format will include an opening address from Piccoli and Araújo and conversations interspersed with songs, with musicians and audience interacting throughout. “We’re still testing out this format, because we want to contextualize each song, but we also want the show to flow,” said Piccoli.
Yaqin Ensemble is an Eastern ethnic music group created by researcher and multi-instrumentalist Mario Aphonso III. It has released two landmark Eastern music albums. According to Piccoli, the group’s music can be likened to Arabesque ornaments, since it crossbreeds multiple musical forms and traditions in a repertoire ranging from Baroque and Middle Eastern music to Brazilian popular music, with Arab rhythms and scales, quarter tones and odd time signatures, a creative, innovative take on music from the East.
The music group is one of the projects of the Tarab collective, whose goals are studying, researching, doing creative work and spreading Eastern art, poetry, music and dance in São Paulo. Other projects by the collective include Zikir Trio, Orkestra Bandida and TarabJazz. Yousef Saif is a 23-year old, Palestinian-born musician who plays the bouzouki, a lute-like instrument. He has been living in Brazil for little over a year now.
According to Piccoli, “the show is an invitation to transcendence, ancestrality and the fusion of worlds and views, traditions past and present, charged with unique timbres, melodies and textures that only the interweaving of East and West can bring.”
Quick facts
O Giramundo – Yaqin Ensemble & Yousef Saif
Thursday, September 13, 9:30 pm
Casa de Francisca – Rua Quintino Bocaiúva, 22 – Sé, São Paulo
BRL 35.00
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
